was conducted. Richard Kelley’s
latest creation, the Purple Box
(Figure 12), came out on top
beating Sidewinder (Figure 13) for
the Beetleweight title. A complete
list of all the winners is in Table 1.

Mark your calendars now for
the next PennBots event — the Third
Annual Downtown Dogfight on
Saturday, March 23, 2013 in
Harrisburg, PA. This event is a
collaborative venture between
PennBots and Harrisburg University,
and will feature Insect class fighting
robots and thinking robot
competitions, including line
following and maze solving.

I tested the prototype second-generation (approximately v0.2)
RageBridge motor controller in my
30 lb robot, Nyx. Beyond not having
to build an entire bot for the
controller, swapping the new ESC
(electronic speed controller) into a
working robot means that you’re
able to directly compare
performance between an existing
solution and the controller under
test.

Before I get into the installation
and testing portion, let’s start with
the specifications:

FIGURE 1. RageBridge v2 as delivered for testing.

• Voltage Range: 12V-36V
nominal with an absolute
50V limit
• Current Rating: 30A true
continuous (40A with fan)
and 60A limiting on each side
• Size: 4. 5” x 2” x 0.8” and 3. 5
oz before adding wires
More detailed specifications
and test data can be found at